Looper carrier



July 10, 1934. J. M. WASHBURN 6 1,966,367

' LOOPER CARRIER Filed April 28, 1933.

In yen/$07: 6707022 111. Wash/burn His Alforngys- 10 a sliding block a general way by 1.

Patented July 10, 1934 1,966,367 7 I Loormt CARRIER John M. Washburn,

signer to The Merl-ow ford, Conn., a corpor Application April 28,

f1 Claims. (01,112-256) This invention relates tolooper carriers such as are employed in sewingmachines. In several United States patents includingNo. 441,315, of November 25, 1890 and No. 1,217,976, of March 6,

1917, granted to Joseph M. Merrow, there is illustrated and described sewing machine looper actu ating mechanism wherein are associated'periph erally grooved cam cylinders and a bodily movable multiple armed looper carrier pivoted upon and bearing cam .rolls, the latter being supported upon studs extending from arms of the looper carrier andengaged by respective grooves in the cam cylinders.

The present invention is directed to improvement of a looper carrier of the type set forth in these patents and its principal object is the provision of a strong light element wherein passages are formed for conducting lubricant to cam rolls carried thereby. The invention consists of the novel form of looper carrier per se and also in its association with cooperating and supportingelements.

. In the accompanying drawing,--

Figure 1 is an inner face view of a sewing machine frame cap and associated parts including a looper carrier formed in accordance .with

my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of parts shown in Fig. 1 and also shows in transversesection a pair of cams and their supporting shafts.

Figures 3, 4 and 5 are detail views in elevation of a looper carrier embodying my invention.

Figure 6 is a sectional view on line 6--6 of Fig. 3 and,- Figure .7 is a sectional view on line 7-7 of Fig. 5. The scale of the drawing in this view is enlarged.

Referring to the drawing, a looper carrier in a preferred form of my invention is designated in It is formed with a hub portion 2 adapted for pivotal support. As shown the hub is of a length to provide suitable bearing surface when it is bored to receive a supporting stud 4 of the block or slide 5. It will be understood that motion required of the looper carrier is compound inthat it must be moved bodily or reciprocated as well as oscillated uponits pivotal axis in order to actuate looper 6 so thatthe thread engaging end thereof will move in a re- 5 quired path. For permitting this. reciprocatory movement to be imparted to the looper carrier, the block 5 is mounted for sliding movement upon the inner face of frame cap 7, and to guide the slide in its movement, ways are provided, preferably by suitably secured gibs 8 and 9 having adjacent edges thereof beveled to form a guideway to receive correspondingly beveled edges of-the slide. Means for retaining the looper carrier in definite lateral relation'to the slide 5 are proo0 vided by guide bar 10 having a foot 11 which West Hartford, Conn, as

Machine Company, Hartation" of Connecticut 1933, Seria.l No. 668,422

is secured to the frame cap between the gibs as at 12. Required movement of the looper carrier is imparted to it by grooves 14 and 15 formed of suitable contour respectively in cam cylinders 16 and- 17 as will presently more fully appear. It is to be understood that the looper carrier'is confined in its field of movement by opposed parallel flat surfaces comprising respectively, bearing surface 19 of bar 10 and bearing surface 20 of block or slide 5, and furthermore that the outer surfaces of gibs 8 and 9 are nearly or quite contiguous to an adjacent portion of the looper carrier which presents a flat surface that will now be more particularly identified in setting forth in detail the novel form of the looper carrier.

In addition to its hub 2, the looper carrier per se includes a web portion-as the arms 22 and 23, and the looper arm 24 which has'a socket 25 to receive the shank of the looper 6. Both the Web portion and arm 24 extend transversely to the pivotal axis of the hub and they respectively present flat bearing surfaces 26 and 27 corresponding to or substantially coincident respectively with planes defined by respective ends of the hub. That is to say the surface 26 of arm'24 is flush with one end of the hub and surface 27 of web or arms 22 and'23 is flush with the other end of the hub. :The looper carrier also includes bearing studs 28 and 29 integral therewith and ex-'- tended respectively from the free ends of arms 22 and 23, said studs terminating preferably at or short of the plane defined by bearing surface 26 or the corresponding end of the hub.

At the base of the looper socket arm24, for the accommodation of a set screw as 30, a tapped hole 31 transverse to socket 25 is formed in an enlargement 33 which merges with the hub and terminates laterally in surface 27 which is thus favorably extended to increase bearing area opposed to the mating surface of slide 5. At the base of the studs 28 and 29 the respective arms merge into comparatively thin flanges 35 and 36 provided to receive end thrust ofcam rolls 37 and 38 carried thereby. These cam rolls form anti-friction means for connecting the looper carrier with suitably formed grooves in the actuating cam cylinders 16 and 17 as 'hereinbefore intimated. The flange 35 terminates in an arcuate surface 35' with the axis of motion of the carrier and merged or flush with the periphery of stud 28. The flange 36 similarly terminates in an arcuate surface 36. The purpose for thus, terminating these flanges will hereinafter appear.

Each arm 22 and 23 of the looper carrier is provided with a passageway for conductinglubricant to its respective cam roll. Each passageway consists of a groove as 40, and a duct as 41, the groove being formed in surface-27 as of arm 22 and. the ductcommunicating the groove which is substantially concentric with the surface of a cam roll stud, as 28. The duct may be formed of a longitudinal hole 42 in a stud, transverse holes 43 and 44 intersecting both said hole 42 and the stud bearing surface, and an inclined hole 41 leading as from groove 40 to hole 42.

carrier, slide 5 and its supporting stud 4, are associated with the inner face of the frame cap. Such means for the upper looper carrier arm 22, includes a fin 47 secured to the frame cap and adapted to transfer lubricant to an adjacent or contiguous moving surface such as the arcuate surface 35 of flange 35 above described. Flow of lubricant from a reservoir 48 formed by a bore in the upper part of the frame cap may be controlled as by a valve (not shown) and conveyed to fin 4'7 through a duct49. An edge of fin 47 is extended in a plane tangent to the arcuate surface 35 of the looper carrier arm 22 so that at any point in its path of compound movement said arm may receive lubricant from the fin. In a somewhat similar manner means (not shown) may be provided for presenting lubricant to the arcuate surface 36 of the lower arm 23 of the looper carrier. The indicated arrangement of fins is not a part of the present invention. It is included however, in an application for United States patent Serial No. 617,849, filed June 1'7, 1932, by Joseph M. Merrow. The fin 10' secured to guide bar 10 may be employed for also conducting lubricant to the cam roll of the lower arm of the looper carrier. The lower extremity of this fin (see Fig. 2) is directed to a point adjacent the path traversed by the cam roll 38, so that spattered lubricant collected upon the fin flows to said point and from there is transferred to the cam roll bearing by gravity or a wiping action of the moving part. To clear this fin 10' the edge of the looper carrier hub 2 is beveled as at 10".

For explanation of the illustrated arrangement for conducting a supply of lubricant to bearing surfaces of slide 5, reference is again made to gib 8 which, as mentioned, forms one side of a guideway for the slide. The outer face of both gibs 8 and 9 is exposed to drainage of lubricant from parts above and also to lubricant spattered thereon from moving elements. A portion of this lubricant may be directed to the slide from the upper gib 8 by a groove 50 formed in the face of the gib intermediate its ends. From the bottom of the groove a series of ducts 51 is formed leading to upper wall of guideway and serving to convey lubricant thereto and also to pivotal support of the looper carrier.

It has already been stated that the looper carrier in its movement upon the frame cap presents its surface 27 nearly or quite contiguous to the outer surface of gibs 8 and 9. This proximity permits lubricant upon the surface of the gibs to be transferred to respective grooves in the arms of the looper carrier when the latter is in action and from these grooves the lubricant is impelled through the described ducts to respective cam rolls by centrifugal force developed by the compound movement of the carrier. Lubricant may also be conducted to the respective grooves from the bearing surface of its pivotal support.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is,

1. A looper carrier including a web portion having a lateral bearing surface, a bearing stud extended transversely from the Web, ajhub "adapted for pivotal support similarly extended from the web, and a groove formed in the lateral bearing surface radially from the hub and terminating at its outer end in a duct leading to the bearing surface of the stud.

2. A looper carrier including a web portion 5 having a lateral bearing surface, a bearing stud Means for conducting lubricant to the looper extended transversely from the web on its side opposite said bearing surface, a hub adapted for pivotal support similarly extended from the Web, and a groove formed in the lateral bearing surfaceradially fromthe hub and terminating at its outer end in a duct leading to the bearing surface of the stud.

3. A looper carrier including a web portion having a lateral bearing surface, a hub adapted for pivotal support extended transversely from the web on its side opposite said bearing surface, a looper receiving arm extended from the hub and'having a lateral bearing surface in a plane parallel to the bearing surface of the web portion, a bearing stud transversely extended from the web between planes defined by the bearing surfaces indicated, and a groove formed in the bearing surface of the web radially from the hub and terminating at its outer end in a duct leading to the bearing surface of the stud.

4. A looper carrier having a hole therein for its pivotal support, a fiat surface extending transversely to its pivotal axis, a bearing stud extended transversely from the fiat surface, and a groove formed in the flat surface radially from the pivotal axis and terminating at its outer end in a duct leading to the bearing surface of the stud.

5. Mechanism including in combination, a stationary support, an element movably associated with the support, and a looper carrier pivotally supported on the element and provided with a bearing stud axially parallel with the pivotal support, said stationary support and the looper carrier having respective flat surfaces that are nearly contiguous, and the looper carrier having formed therein a groove and a duct, the groove being formed in the flat surface of the looper carrier radially from its pivotal axis and terminating at its outer end in the duct which leads to the bearing surface of the stud, and means for supplying lubricant between the said fiat surfaces.

6. A looper carrier comprising a web portion having a lateral bearing surface, a hub adapted for pivotal support extended transversely from the'web, bearing studs similarly extended from the web and radially spaced from the hub, and grooves formed in the lateral bearing surface radially from the hub, each groove terminating at its outer end in a duct leading to the bearing surface of a respective stud.

7. A looper carrier comprising a Web portion having a lateral bearing surface, a hub adapted for pivotal support extended transversely from the web on its side opposite said bearing surface, a looper receiving arm extended radially from the hub and having a lateral bearing surface in a plane parallel to the bearing surface of the web portion, bearing studs extended transversely from the web intermediate planes'defined bythe bearing surfaces indicated, and a groove directed toward each bearing stud formed in the bearing surface of the web radially from the axis of the hub, each groove terminating at its outer' end in a duct leading to the bearing surface of a respective stud. r JOHN M. WASHBURN. 

